


Dandelion ASMR

by SleepingReader



Series: YouTuber Jaskier [1]
Category: Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: ASMR artist Jaskier, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, Child Neglect, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, First chapter: pure fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Humor, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Light Angst, M/M, Second chapter: hurt/comfort, Urban legends (mentioned), YouTuber Jaskier, but they get rescued immediately so it's still a big fluff fest, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:15:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23622190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SleepingReader/pseuds/SleepingReader
Summary: The ASMR artist, Dandelion, has gained quite a following over the years.But there is only one patreon that has stuck by him for the longest time.Will Dandelion ever meet his mysterious benefactor, Rivia?And in Jaskier's real life, who is that handsome guy at the laundromat downstairs?
Relationships: Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon & Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia, Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon & Jaskier | Dandelion, Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion
Series: YouTuber Jaskier [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1710067
Comments: 52
Kudos: 440





	1. Dandelion

The YouTuber known by his fans as 'Dandelion' tapped softly on a brush before gently stroking it over the microphone. He talked softly to the camera, every so often chiming in with a light strum on his musical instrument, which was always hidden from view. A lot of people had commented on the sort of instrument the man was using. Ukulele? Guitar? No one was quite sure. The ones who would know either kept it to themselves or just didn't bother with Dandelion's kind of videos anyway.  
If Dandelion sometimes felt stupid, brushing a camera and whispering into a microphone, he never showed it in his videos. The videos ranged from simple roleplays to more intricate ones, from 'barbershop', or 'cranial nerve exam' to more intricate, which were the more loved from the ASMR artist. In his top-rated videos were his masterpieces. 'meeting a bard at an inn' and 'buying stuff from a merchant'. The humor the man used was clearly trained and the detail in the background was so intricate that people thought Dandelion had to be very rich. And the music was original, instead of stock music. Some even said that his music popped up on other channels. There were many theories of the amount of people behind Dandelion's videos. Some said there was a large number of beautiful women involved, others pointed to very dedicated parents to their son's succes.

None of these were true. Dandelion, formal name Jaskier, was currently seated criss-cross-applesauce across his microphone and camera setup, on the floor of his living room, where a lot of plants were assorted that he had borrowed from a kindly old neighbor. Including the assortment of stuff he had found in various antique shops, it looked very much like a medieval fantasy flower shop.  
He stroked the brush over the microphone one more time.  
'There. Your blackthorn thistle is all ready for your journey.' he whispered kindly into the microphone, following the exact letter of the script he had written. 'Be sure to stop by when you've come back from meeting the queen.'  
He clapped his hands to cut the camera here, making a mental note to link the video his friend Triss would upload the next week in his description.  
Now to do the high-paying patreons.  
'Thank you to my dear hearts' he whispered in the microphone, making sure to move his head backwards and forwards so listeners with headphones would get the full experience.  
''The Countess', 'Pavetta', 'Madeleine', and a special thanks to my oldest patron: 'Rivia'.' He murmured, winking at the name of Rivia and making sure to speak the names clearly.  
He ended the video in the way he always did.  
'If you'd like, please consider pressing the subscribe button and toss a like to the video. Sleep well.'

He then cleaned up, watering the plants as a thank-you and placing them by the front door to bring back to his neighbor in the morning.  
He quickly checked his feed, to see if his enemy Valdo Marx had posted anything yet. He had, but it was another apology video, littered with ad breaks.  
Jaskier didn't do ad breaks.  
He smirked at the thumbnail, recognising the fake tears from acting school, and went to make a start on the editing.

A day later the video went up for his patreons. He made sure the video was ready for YouTube, too. Jaskier then ate three entire bowls of fettuccine, chugged a glass of cheap wine and went to sleep for twelve hours, wondering once again where 'Rivia' lived or if they would ever comment on any of his videos.

'Rivia' himself wasn't as far as Jaskier had thought.  
In fact, right on Jaskier's second bowl of fettuccine, the man known to him as 'Rivia' parked his motorcycle in the apartment building's garage and trudged over to the elevator.  
The elevator went up to the fourth floor, and Geralt stared dully at his own face in the mirror of the elevator. He tried to ignore the music, but he was sure the song about the tall and tan and young and lovely girl would haunt his brain tonight. A chime on his phone notified him of an e-mail, but he dully ignored his, instead attempting to get the elastic band out of his tangled hair.  
If you had asked the other tenants of the building about Geralt, you would be met with a lot of theories.  
'Mafia', some whispered. Other said 'hitman', 'stunt guy', or 'security detail'  
Others said 'stripper' or 'male escort'.  
Though Geralt had done some security work before, right now he was on another job. If you'd ask him outright, he'd tell you he hunts monsters.  
And he wouldn't have lied.  
Geralt walked into his apartment and locked the door behind him. He then unceremonially took his clothes off and went into the bathroom to take a look at that cut on his shoulder. It wasn't deep and didn't need stitches, as he expected. So he just disinfected it and wrapped it up as best he could. He took a shower, staring longingly at the bathtub in the corner, which he'd put to good use on the coming weekend. Rinsed out his hair. Brushed his teeth. Lay on his back in bed.  
And prepared for another sleepless night.

Geralt's brain vaguely notified him that he had gotten an email. Not looking, he swatted around before a dull _thud_ told him he had knocked his phone on the floor. He muttered a curse and picked it up.  
He looked at the date, and... Was it Friday already?  
His heart skipped a beat.  
Maybe...  
He clicked the e-mail.  
And the world went soft.  
Because Dandelion had uploaded.

He couldn't help it, he always did. Geralt opened the video with the password (' _Thistle_ ') and skipped to the ending, where Dandelion thanked his patrons that paid him 50+ dollars every month.  
A measly price for a week's sleep.  
'...Pavetta', 'Madeleine', and a special thanks to my oldest patron: 'Rivia'.' Dandelion winked at the name.  
Geralt Rivia smiled, the first real smile of the day.  
Then he turned on his side, put the video back to the beginning and fell asleep while Dandelion wove a tale about a flowershop, some magic potions and a journey to be made.

Geralt woke up at 8:00 precisely and cleaned his apartment before opening a book from the library about urban legends. Hunting real monsters sometimes made him wish that he could meet Mothman or Nessie, just one time. He thought that might be nice. For a change.  
It was Saturday, just after noon, which in his schedule meant laundry. Geralt didn't bother with a lot of nice clothing during the week, in his uniform most of the time. But his undershirts were definitely sweaty and he only had enough underwear to last him an entire week, plus some for unforseen circumstances.  
He put his laundry in a basket and went down to the laundry room.

Jaskier woke up on Saturday around noon. He stretched lazily and went to take a shower. He did a few sniff tests on the pile of laundry on his floor, and found out that there was absolutely nothing left besides a t-shirt proclaiming he had 'met Bigfoot and sucked his toes' and a pair of shorts that were so stained that Jaskier wasn't sure if it was paint or very stubborn soup.  
Laundry day, then.  
Jaskier put every piece of clothing he owned into a basket and went downstairs to the laundry room.

Geralt sat watching the laundry in the machine tumble dry. He forgot to bring something to do but was too damn stubborn to go upstairs to grab his phone.  
A man waltzed into the laundry room, and yes, this could only be described as waltzing, for the man walked as if he was a dancer, large basket on his hip and swaying with the music playing through his headphones. He crammed most of the laundry into a machine, only fishing out a white shirt at the last moment. He closed the door and put his powder in the machine.

The machine turned on and Jaskier swayed back and forth a little with his almost-empty laundry basket, humming to the music. He turned around and jumped a foot into the air when he saw the large man in the black t-shirt jeans combo in the corner. The laundry took this moment to defy gravity, leap out of the basket and fall to the floor.  
'AA! Jezus!' Jaskier said.  
The man just stared.  
'Shit, sorry.' Jaskier said, picking up his fallen laundry. ''s really cool, the way you just sit in the corner and brood.'  
It took a while for the man to answer. Jaskier felt looked at.  
'Forgot my phone.' the man said after what felt like an age, half-standing to help. For some reason, he kept staring at Jaskier. Jaskier wouldn't have minded, if the guy wasn't built like a brick wall and also one of the most beautiful people Jaskier had ever seen.  
'Right, yeah.' Jaskier said, putting his white laundry into an unused washing machine. He was blushing furiously, still feeling the man's eyes on the back of his neck.  
'Sorry, but have we met or something...?' Jaskier asked.  
'You met Bigfoot.' the man deadpanned.  
Jaskier glanced down at his t-shirt. Fuck. Of course.  
'I did! Very nice fellow. Very big.. Uh. Eyes.'  
The man smirked.  
'Uh, yeah, don't think we've met before. I'm Jaskier.'  
'Geralt.' said the man. They shook hands. Jaskier tried not to notice the man's intense eyes on him.  
They sat for a while in companionable silence, Jaskier wondering if he should offer one of his earbuds to Geralt. He was about to, but a sharp _Beep!_ prompted Geralt to stand up and take his laundry out of the dryer.  
He went to stride outside, but halted. Turned around.  
'It was nice to meet you, Jaskier.' he said, his eyes finding Jaskiers and _What color were they? Was that gold?_  
'You too. Uh. See you around, Geralt.'

As much as the two had not met before, the more they saw each other now. They met in the elevator as Jaskier went off to his part-time job at the antique store and Geralt went to his own job. Geralt noted that Jaskier was fond of bright colors, something he had already suspected were not a costume he put on for the camera, but rather already owned.  
Jaskier mainly noticed how _small_ he seemed next to Geralt, even though Jaskier also worked out and was just about the same height.

Geralt caught a glimpse of Jaskier in the park surrounding the south of the apartment building, strumming an instrument that he didn't recognise. Some sort of guitar?  
A quick google search later, and Geralt had the answer to the questions all of Jaskiers 'Dear Hearts' had been asking since day 1.

Once, while walking in the hallway, Jaskier winked at Geralt in such a recognisable way that Geralt was almost certain Jaskier knew who he was.  
But Jaskier didn't.  
Instead, Jaskier asked the old lady next door if she knew about Geralt. She only mentioned that she thought he was a stripper, but that word went around that he told people about 'hunting monsters'.

The next week, a notification came in on Jaskier's phone. Someone had replied to his florist roleplay. Jaskier tried to answer or at least like most of the replies on his fast-growing channel, but this one was special.

_**Rivia** : 'Thank you for this one. It's been helping me sleep the past week.'_

  
Jaskier spent two and a half hours trying to come up with the perfect reply.  
~~' _ur welcome lol_ '~~  
~~_'Marry me.'_~~  
~~_'why say something now? It's been two years?'_~~

  
All of those were quickly deleted in favour of:

_**Dandelion** pinned your message_  
_**Dandelion** liked your message_  
_**Dandelion** : 'You're welcome! If you have any requests for me please tell me, I'd love to hear from my oldest patron'_

The reply came the next day. Apparently, Rivia was not much of a typer. Or an explainer.  
_**Rivia** : 'Urban legends?'_

The next Friday, Dandelion ASMR's most famous roleplay as of today went up. 'Storytelling With The Bard.'  
In it, Dandelion played a very colorful medieval Fantasy Bard, one of his favourite persona's. The background was that of an inn, cleverly crafted in Jaskier's bedroom. The Bard sat down on a stool and started whisper-telling of all the fantastical creatures that roamed the lands. People were riveted. Some came from urban legends, but others seemed entirely made up. Selkiemores. Kikimora's. Striga.  
Dandelion produced artefacts from every single one. Jaskier had, very cleverly, made use of the large Great White Shark's tooth he borrowed from the antique shop he worked at to describe one of the vicious animals.  
But the main play of the video was the song. Dandelion sang a soft lullaby about the various scary creatures, but that you shouldn't be too afraid, for there always were the brave monster hunters that protected the villagers.  
The refrain was what made it so hauntingly catchy. With Dandelion's soft strumming, it went like this:

_But sleep now, dear heart_  
_There's a candle set apart_  
_And with its gentle light_  
_White Wolves may guide the night_

The video got another comment from Rivia, saying:

  
_**Rivia** : It almost felt like I was there with you. The lute makes it seem even more real. Fell asleep almost instantly. Thank you, little lark.'_  
  
The comment got more than a thousand likes in a single day, and more comments than Geralt had energy to read. Some praising him on figuring it out, some angry to have been robbed of the suspence. Some went into deep discussion about how it _obviously_ wasn't a lute, and wasn't Geralt an idiot.

A day later, Dandelion posted a video that had obviously been in the works already.  
'The Love of my Life'  
The video was of him playing the lute, now in full vision.  
Rivia commented, once again calling Dandelion 'little lark'  
Dandelion released a new video, quicker than the one before.  
Geralt upped the amount of his donations on Patreon.

That Saturday, after a particularly grueling week only made soft by Dandelion's video's, Geralt went down to do laundry again. Jaskier was there already, bouncing with excitement.  
Even though Geralt was bad at the whole thing, Jaskier had become his friend. Meeting up with him in the laundry room every Saturday, chatting about everything and carefully not asking about Geralt's job or love life. But even though he didn't ask, he could tell a few things.  
Geralt's job was rough. And he lived alone. There were never any other pieces of laundry besides his own and he never smelled of anything else than leather and the light shampoo he tended to favour.  
Jaskier once vaguely wondered when he had stopped flirting with other people. It might just have been since he met Geralt. Or when Rivia started commenting regularly.  
  
Jaskier talked about a funny customer he had had in the store. The woman had insisted that the candelabra she had brought in was Louis XIV or whatever. 'But, madam,' I ask. 'How come it says 'IKEA' on the bottom?' Jaskier said. Geralt snorted in his beer, a treat from Jaskier who mentioned something about a raise before handing it over.  
The two were quiet for a while, a companionable silence. Jaskier whistled a tune. Geralt recognised it as the lullaby from the video.  
  
'I can't keep from wondering, Geralt.' Jaskier said after a while.  
'Hm?'  
'What _is_ your job exactly?'  
'What are the current theories?' Geralt deadpanned.  
Jaskier murmured something about gigolo's and magicians.  
'Hm.' Geralt said as a reply.  
'Any of those right?'  
'No.'  
Jaskier waited patiently.  
'I... Hunt monsters.'  
'My neighbor said you did. So are you on a ghost hunting show, or...'  
'I hunt real monsters.' Geralt said. He took out his wallet and opened it.  
Inside was a badge with a silver wolf's head. One Jaskier had only heard of. One whose legends he had used in his own song.  
'You're one of the _Wiedźmin_ ' he gasped. 'The Wolves.'  
'Specialising in sex offenders and other... monsters.' Geralt said, turning to Jaskier. Trying to see any fear in his friend's eyes.  
'Damn. And my neighbor thought you were an escort! Guess I win that bet. I _knew_ you did something way cooler! Ha! She owes me 10 dollars!' Jaskier said. His washing machine _Beep!_ -ed. He took his clothing out of the washing machine and looked at his watch.  
'Shit, sorry about this, I promise I'm not ditching you. I need to pick up a shift at the store. See you around again, Geralt!'  
'Bye, little lark.'  
  
  
It was out in the open before he knew it. Jaskier seemed to take it in stride and walked out the door.  
Jaskier's footsteps receded upstairs and then he was almost out of earshot. Geralt looked after him and hoped, prayed Jaskier wouldn't notice his slip-up.  
A loud _THUNK_ on the floor told Geralt that the YouTuber most definitely had noticed. Footsteps descended.  
Jaskier appeared in the doorway again.  
'There's only one person in this whole wide world who calls me that.'  
Geralt stared. Oh, no.  
'Geralt? What's your last name?'  
'Fuck.' Geralt said.  
Jaskier shook his head, pleading with his eyes for an answer.  
'Rivia. Geralt Rivia. Dandelion, Jaskier, I-'  
He couldn't finish his sentence, for Jaskier had thrown his arms around him.  
Geralt stiffened at first, but then hugged him back.  
Jaskier stifled a sob. 'I wanted it to be you. I really hoped it was you.'  
'It's me.' Geralt said, holding Jaskier closer with one arm and burying his fingers in Jaskier's hair.  
A teary sort of muffle came from Geralt's shoulder.  
'Hm?'  
'You've paid for some of my rent' Jaskier muttered.  
'Small price to pay for sleep.'

They stood like that for a while, until Jaskier's phone alarm went off.  
'I don't want to go.' He murmured. 'I've only just found you.'  
'I'll be right here.' Geralt said.  
They broke apart, reluctantly.  
'Can I come over tonight?' Jaskier asked.  
'No filming?'  
Jaskier shook his head.  
Geralt smiled. Nodded.  
Jaskier left.

Precisely five hours later, there was a knock on Geralt's door.  
When he opened it, he barely had time to open his arms , for Jaskier slotted himself right in as if he had always belonged there. Geralt felt a kiss being pressed against his cheek.  
'Tell me right now if I'm out of line. Geralt. Rivia. Please tell me if-' Jaskier said, almost panicking.  
In response, Geralt kissed him.  
'You're never out of line.'


	2. The Wiedźmin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A look into Geralt's line of work

Surprisingly, it wasn't the worst place Geralt had seen. Then again, in his line of work, he hadn't seen many happy homes. Places where wives or husbands or partners or… children had been abused or mistreated.  
It still caught the attention of the Wiedźmin because of the sheer _number_ of kids in the house. There were fourteen children in this house, all of them in varying states of neglect and fear. While most of the kids were around seven or eight, none of them were much older than thirteen.

Even at this late hour Geralt could see the surroundings. The floor of the room was filthy, the windows were so dirty no natural light was able to enter, and the children looked hollow and either lethargic, fully asleep, or overly-alert.  
All, except for one. A tiny twelve-year old with fire in her bright stormy green eyes that was comforting a six old boy who had hidden behind her at the sight of the four large men entering their house.  
From what Geralt understood, the kids had all been adopted from somewhat less proper agencies, and had quickly been put to work doing chores in the house. When they inevitably failed, they had been locked up in that room one by one.  
Geralt had heard that a twelve-year-old girl had called for help, and he had no doubt that this was the girl currently standing across from him.  
They loaded up the kids in the large van they had brought, and brought them back to The Kaer for questioning, a hot meal, and seeing if they could be in touch with any family or aquaintances.  
When they got there, they found out that their PTSD councellor, Nenneke, had been forcefully sent home with a horrible fever. She had wanted to stay, but she had started to attempt to pet the wallpaper.  
The next councillor was an hour away.  
It was three o'clock at night.  
Fuck.

****

The YouTuber known by his fans as Dandelion and by his boyfriend as 'Jaskier' blew softly on the camera to let the imaginary face paint dry. He sat cross-legged on the floor in front of the little table he always used to do ASMR.  
He had been doing a summer roleplay as part of a seasonal series. His friend Triss had also joined in, as the face of springtime. Valdo Marx had wanted to play the role of Winter, but Jaskier had put his friend Essi first. With her blonde hair covering one eye, she was a far more gentle snow queen than Valdo could ever aspire to be.

Jaskier then gingerly tapped his brush in a small jar filled with glitter, making sure to press the brush in a couple of times so the microphone could pick up the soft _crunch_ sounds. He passed the glitter-covered brush gently over the camera lens, whispering softly: 'Just brusshh brusshhh brushhhing this on you… Eyes closed please. Brushh brushh…'  
He was so caught up in creating the visual triggers needed for his viewers to get the response that when his phone rang he dropped the entire jar of glitter on himself and threw the brush at the ceiling.  
'MOTHERFUCKING DOUCHECANOE!' he yelped, then yelped again as the brush hit him on the head, showering him in more glitter.  
He quickly clapped his hands to remind himself to cut the recording. Then he picked up the phone, attempting to brush a piece of glitter out of his eye with the back of his hand, only succeding in smearing more glitter all over his face.  
'hello?'  
'Jaskier. You're still awake?' Jaskiers heart skipped a little. He hadn't looked at the number.  
'Geralt! Yes, I am, I was filming. Are you okay? Are you hurt?'  
'I'm okay, not hurt.' Geralt said.  
'Well, what about Lambert, Eskel? Vesemir?'  
'All are safe. Little lark, I need a favour.'  
'Anything.'  
Jaskier was quiet while Geralt explained.  
When he was done, Jaskier already had his jacket on.  
'I'll be right there'

****

The Kaer sounded scarier than it was. It was, effectively, a home base. A safe house for anyone who passed through. To some, it was the last step before their witness protection programme. To others, a safe haven from an abusive spouse. A place where girls who got bothered on the street could always find a quick escape. A place where people tossed out by their parents could find a hot cup of chocolate milk and a nudge in the direction of one of the councillors.  
And for today, a place where fourteen children could sleep safely without the worry of a belt being swung in their direction.  
The dark brown pitbull with the white splotch on her nose was taken out of her indoor kennel and allowed to wander the dormitory, for all the children were slightly comforted with the soft nose and the floppy ears.  
The Wiedźmin could see that the kids were still very wary of them, big bulky dudes in body armour. Most of the kids were still crying, even with the head of Roach in their laps.

The bright-eyed twelve year old gently pried the hand of a sleeping girl off of her and walked over to Geralt. He knelt down to her. She looked back at the scared kids huddled in the nooks of the bunk beds, daring not to nod off.  
Tears filled her eyes.  
'The police never came' she said softly, the last word enhanced by the small sob coming out of her throat.  
Geralt opened his arms and the girl fell into them like she had always known him.  
'Th-the others. They thought it was _normal_ to not get food for two days.' she whispered. 'And the police didn't believe me.'  
'What's your name?' Geralt asked, as softly as he could.  
'Ciri.'  
'You've been really brave, Ciri. And you and the rest are safe now. We've got your backs.'  
Right on time, there was a knock at the door.

****

'Jaskier.'  
'Hi Vesemir, hope I didn't arrive too late?'  
'Right on time, Dandelion. Thank you for coming, they're in the dorms.'  
Jaskier blew past as if he controlled the summer wind, his beloved lute case on his back and his hair mussed up, swirls of glitter in his wake.  
'Geralt?' he called ahead.  
'Lark?' he heard his favourite voice in the world echo back. He hurried on.  
He found Geralt kneeling on the floor, consoling a crying girl with hair only a little darker than that of his boyfriend's. The rest of the kids were still looking around warily, some finally eating some of the apple slices sat on the table next to the bunk beds. One or two older kids looked like they vaguely recognised the YouTuber, but most gave no notice.  
Jaskier quickly dropped a kiss to Geralt's temple and then shooed the rest of the Wiedźmin out.  
'Come on, Lambert, out! Out! Your face will give anyone nightmares. Eskel, can you get Scorpion out for us, too? I think we'll need another doggie here, right kids? Geralt, you stay and help me and…' Jaskier asked, looking kindly at Ciri.  
'Ciri.' Ciri said, wiping her eyes. 'You're covered in glitter.'  
'I absolutely am.' Jaskier said, spreading out his arms and making it rain glitter.  
One of the youngest kids seemed to take this as a good omen and hugged Jaskier around his leg.  
'Right!' Jaskier said. 'First point of order, we need to get you all clean.'

****

From Lambert and Eskel's place in the other room, they could hear only snippets of sounds. Jaskier's lute being strung. A few first notes. Then a song and some splashing water.  
Then Geralt emerged, hair sopping wet, wringing it out with a towel.  
'Scorpion ready yet? It's bedtime for the kids.'  
'You put them to bed?'  
'I didn't do shit.'  
Eskel brought Scorpion in, fearing for the worst.  
The world went soft.  
When Eskel had seen the kids last time, they had been gaunt and hollow-eyed and filthy.  
Now, they were still gaunt and hollow-eyed but squeaky clean, all of them in bunk beds, some sharing, some alone. A trash can sat on the side, full of empty oatmeal plates. The kids had all been outfitted with clean clothing.  
Jaskier sat cross-legged next to the little side-table, running a string of electric lights through his hands and softly telling a bedtime story about a fairy going on an adventure.  
Eskel felt a slight tingle run up his brain, the same one he often felt when Jaskier enunciated _just so_. The YouTuber was truly talented, the kids falling asleep one by one.  
Eskel glanced sideways and saw Geralt hold the hand of the brave twelve-year-old who was fast asleep. Eskel could see Jaskier's voice affecting Geralt, too, his brother's face slowly starting to relax.

Eskel let Scorpion off his leash, the large black sheepdog soundlessly padding over to an eight-year-old boy who held out his hand to him and plopping down next to him on the floor, keeping his head in petting-range. Roach wagged her tail at him. She lay in the same bed as two kids, their heads buried in her soft brown fur.

Eskel, Lambert and Vesemir decided it was too late to head home, so they got out some bedrolls and made a space for themselves in the break room. They left some bedrolls for Jaskier and Geralt.  
There was a long road ahead, and foster families would need to be found in the morning. But for now, with the soft white fairy lights, the softer lute playing and the even softer breathing of children that were sleeping peacefully, that could wait.

****  
Eight Months Later

****

'Jask?'  
'Hmm?' Jaskier rolled around from where he was curled up in Geralt's embrace to see the silhouette in the doorway.  
'Nightmares.'  
Jaskier wordlessly opened a corner of the blanket and Ciri crawled in next to him, grabbing his hand and putting it on her hair. He stroked it until she fell asleep.

****  
Three Years Later

****

'Daaad!' Ciri yelled from the hallway at the same time Jaskier yelled 'Geraaaalt!' Geralt knew exactly what kind of yell that was. He grabbed the fly swatter and prepared for the second huge spider that day.

****  
Four Months after that

****

'Ciri Rivia' was the new name on her birth certificate. She held it as if she couldn't believe it. Then, she dropped it and put her hands to her mouth, her eyes widening in joy.  
Geralt turned around to see Jaskier sitting on one knee, a box in his hand.  
'Can I be Rivia, too?'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! This chapter is dedicated to pantransman, who left such a lovely comment that I couldn't do anything but make a new chapter. I'm sorry if it's a bit less fluffy than the previous one, but I had to get Ciri in there too!

**Author's Note:**

> They move in together. Geralt pays half of the rent and Jaskier makes sure Geralt never lies awake again.
> 
> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I liked writing it!  
> Kudos and comments keep me on the write path :)


End file.
